


Sanctuary

by hellabaloo



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Bickering, Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, jaegercon gift exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 20:06:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellabaloo/pseuds/hellabaloo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day Hermann would truly have an office all to himself, without Newton or any of his legion of fans, and it would be glorious. Oh yes indeed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sanctuary

**Author's Note:**

> For [nerdy-newton](http://nerdy-newton.tumblr.com), happy JaegerCon!

Hermann processed down the hallway, dictating notes regarding the administration of the midterm exam for his Methods of Complex Analysis course to Gabbi, the teaching assistant the university insisted he employ. Her’s was the only application that seemed least hopeless and he was glad, though reluctant to admit, that his usual cynicism towards post-doctoral fellows was unfounded in this particular case. 

“And you’ve taken the exam yourself?” Hermann asked.

Gabbi laughed. “I did, and I _barely_ got a 75. That should put the curve for the class at about a 40.”

Hermann snorted and replied, “Undoubtedly you’re right, even though I’ve given them all the tools they ought to require to manage a passing grade.”

“I’m just glad I’m your TA and not taking your class, Dr. Gottlieb,” Gabbi said. “And don’t forget, faculty meeting tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, yes,” Herman said waving her off. “And I don’t want to hear any reports of complaining about the exam questions.” 

“Duly noted. I’ll keep all the complaints to myself and the other post-docs. We delight in the tears of undergraduate angst,” she said with a conspiratorial smile. Gabbi headed for the office she shared with the other teaching assistants, while Hermann rounded the corner and headed for his own office.

He didn’t notice the unusually large crowd of students outside his office door, until he needed to announce his presence to get the oblivious masses to move away from his door. When he swung the door open to reveal Newton, boots kicked up and resting on his desk the chorus of shouts that echoed through the otherwise empty hall was grating to Hermann’s ears. 

“Dr. Geiszler! Dr. Geiszler!—”

“Could you sign my copy of your article—”

“You’re a rock star Dr. Geiszler!”

“We love you!!!”

He ought to have known this was Newton’s fault. Hermann promptly shut the door in face of one very eager young student, who seemed have begun copying Newton’s now-famous tattoos and was apparently quite eager to trip over his feet in order to get closer to Newton. Newton, who was speaking into that infernal digital recorder of his.

“—and, as an unscientific aside, Vanessa you have to talk to Hermann about that. Hermann! You’re back early, dude,” he said with an easy smile, slipping the recorder back into his pocket.

"Newton there is a horde outside my office,” Herman said, gripping his cane and wondering if it would be as satisfying to actually hit Newton as it was to imagine hitting him.

"Really? I'm surprised they found me—"

"What do you mean, 'found you'?" 

"You know, whatever happened to apathetic undergraduates? They're not supposed to even _know_ when office hours—"

"Newton!" Herman shouted.

"What, Hermann?" Newtson answered, managing to look simultaneously confused and annoyed at being asked a question.

"Why is there a gaggle of your admirers loitering outside my office?" Herman asked in a deadly calm voice. 

Newton jiggled his leg restlessly and fiddled with the end of his tie, refusing to meet Hermann’s eyes. Hermann remained resolutely silent. One day Hermann would truly have an office all to himself, without Newton or any of his legion of fans, and it would be glorious. Oh yes indeed. 

“Okay, so it’s like this,” Newton started. He abruptly stood up from the chair and began pacing in front of Hermann’s desk. He paused several times, opening his mouth, presumably to give an excuse, but shut it with an audible snap before resuming his pacing. Eventually he stopped and in a petulant voice said, “I may be hiding from my students.”

“Why on earth are you hiding from them in my office?”

“What no sympathy, at least? No ‘well _why_ are you hiding from your students, Newton?’” Newtson said in a horrible imitation of Hermann’s accent. “That’s cold, man.”

“I do not sound like that—”

“Dude? You totally do—”

“It’s inconsequential as you still have not answered my original question. Why did you choose, of an entire campus full of offices, to use mine as your hiding place. It’s not as if we were engaged by the university to do a joint-lecture series. It’s not like the entire campus doesn’t know we’re friends.”

Newton looked at Hermann, his mouth hanging open. “Oh my god. That’s, like, the first first time you’ve ever admitted we’re friends. I mean, yeah, you Drift with a guy and you get a sense—”

“Newton, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course I’ve said we’re friends before—”

“Dude, you like me. You really like me,” Newton said with a ridiculously large grin on his face.

“Not at the moment, I don’t. If you’d be so kind as to remove yourself and your groupies from the vicinity of my office—”

“Are you nuts? I’m not going out there. Why do you think I’m here in the first place? Office hours are full of awkward co-eds asking about my tattoos and what it was like in Hong Kong and—”

“It’s your own damn fault for answering those sorts of questions in the beginning of term—”

“—you know what? I’m gonna pull an Indiana Jones. I’ll just go out the window,” Newton said, scrambling behind Hermann’s desk and towards the large window behind it.

Hermann rushed as much as he was able after him. “Newton! We’re on the the third story. Indiana Jones’ office was on the first.”

“There’s a tree, I can totally grab ahold of that branch and swing down from there. It’ll be awesome,” Newton said, still struggling with the window.

Hermann leaned against his desk and watched Newton struggle for a few moments before saying, “Besides, the windows have all been painted shut. You’ll just have to brave the mob and use the door.”

Newton’s look of realization and dawning horror was so cartoonish as to be almost absurd and Hermann had a hard time keeping his mirth to himself. He did always appreciate a nice bout of Schadenfreude. Hermann walked over to Newton, and placing his arm around his shoulders and turning them towards the door, said, “Now, Vanessa, my dearest, loveliest wife, who for unfathomable reasons also likes you, has invited you for dinner. Bring a bottle of wine. Red. And for heaven’s sake something that you spent more than six dollars on.”

“Sub-10-dollar wine is great. Stop being such a snob, Hermann,” Newton said, clearly a little dazed and arguing for the sake of arguing.

Hermann reached for the door handle and, before opening the door and pushing Newton out of his office, said, “Surely a crowd of adoring students is less frightening than a kaiju?”

“Right now, I think I’d take another round with Baby Otachi, thanks,” Newton said, shuddering. 

“Remember, 7 o’clock,” Hermann said and shoved his friend out into the throng of waiting students. It served Newton right for disrupting his afternoon.

[]


End file.
